"Art is chaos taking shape."
- Pablo Picasso
This article was written by a guest writer, local artist and animal sanctuary care-giver &
provider. Here she finds a way to express herself, her love of nature and her healing journey through her artwork and the beautiful article she's written. She expressing her gratitude by painting and gifting tiny pieces of art as a way of saying thank you to those who help her continue to her work at Shayla's Sanctuary. Art is a way of expressing emotions in a manner sometimes words cannot.
Like most women, I feel my waist is more plump than society would like it to be. I also struggle with anxiety and have been through lots of trauma, so I've been buzzing around life trying to find my place of peace. Accepting myself for who I am has not come about until my mid-forties. I'm now on a healing journey living my best queen bee life on my own sanctuary in the country where I can sigh a breath of relief and care for my family, our animals, and garden.
The story behind this painting is that I went outside one day and saw a plump bee about to drown in our doggie pool. I got a stick, raised her out of the water, and she let out a big sigh. That's right, a bee sighed in relief after I saved her life! She stayed around for about a week too, so I got to watch her recover. I then realized that I moved to the country to save myself and other living beings who need my help.
I paint as a creative outlet, and paintings make great thank you gifts for donations to our
farm sanctuary in rural Oklahoma where we care for goats, geese, dogs, cats, and bees. I am beginning to accept my curvy queen bee self that deserves a fighting chance even though I've experienced so much trauma in my life.
Thank you for reading my article!
Sincerely,
Shayla
Instagram & TikTok @shaylassanctuary